|
In this tutorial, we will show you on how to create your Chinese dragon model from Adobe Illustrator Vector file. we will show you on how to quickly bend your model accurately with these two SketchUp plugins; Shape Bender and True Bend. From Adobe Illustrator to SketchUp: 
In the SketchUp to bend the model: 
Here is the final model: 
In Adobe Illustrator 1. Apply a stroke color to the graphic and remove the fill color. 
2. Select File > Export. At Save as type, choose AutoCAD Drawing (*.DWG). Then click Save. 
Detailed steps of this tutorial is available upon request >> In SketchUp Window. In order to import the AutoCAD dwg file format into SketchUp, you need to have the SketchUp Professional software. 4. Now, open your SketchUp software. 5. Select File > Import. At the file type dropdown, select AutoCAD Files (*.dwg, *.dxf). To define the scale units, click on Options… then select the desired Units. Click OK then click Import.
6. After you imported the file into SketchUp, you can see all the outline are in smooth lines. 
Detailed steps of this tutorial is available upon request >> 8. Select the dragon model, on Extension menu, choose Eneroth Face Creator.
Eneroth Face Creator is a SketchUp plugin. It creates all possible faces from the selected edges or active drawing context if nothing is selected. This can be useful for creating hatches from the section planes. And most importantly, it is a free plugin!
Now, you can use the Push/Pull to extrude the face. During the Push/Pull process, you may encounter some of the edges has not split the face. You can use the methods below to split the face. There are 3 methods you can use to split the face:
Method 1: 9. Use Line tool to draw any edge of the line (from end point to endpoint). This can create a face for the edges. 
Method 2: Intersect Faces
Detailed steps of this tutorial is available upon request >> Bending Geometry in SketchUp with SketchUp Plugins Before bending the model, I will draw a rectangle shape behind the model. This is to make the model wrap around the column/pillar. Select both the model and rectangle shape and make them a group. 
Now let's bend the model ! There are 2 methods you can use to bend the model:
Method 1: Bending Geometry with Shape Bender SketchUp Plugin The Shape Bender plugin created by Chris Fullmer, allow you to warp objects along curved paths. This tool is very powerful and it can bend your model to any shape. It is very important to note that the object to be bent on, should be a group or component and the line describing the objects length should be on the RED axis. 
To know more about CLF Shape Bender, you can refer to my tutorial SketchUp Plugin - CLF Shape Bender(http://www.sketchup.edu.my/tutorial-sketchup-plugin-clf-shape-bender). Method 2: Bending Geometry with TrueBend SketchUp Plugin TrueBend is designed by Thom Thom to help you bending your model for a given degree, saving the original length of the model. 
Here is the example of final model.
|
